


Monsters and Men

by TheIncognitoFox



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Admiration, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Black Widow - Freeform, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Captain America - Freeform, Emotions, Feels, Fluff, From a prompt, Hawkeye - Freeform, Hulk - Freeform, I Don't Even Know, Iron Man - Freeform, M/M, Protective Hulk, Romance, Science Bros, So many emotions, Thor - Freeform, Tony Being Tony, Tony Stark Has A Heart, adorableness, am i supposed to capitalize these, avengerkink, bruce whump, clint barton kids, i should say, no the title is not a reference to of monsters and men, ok whY IS SELF-CEST A SUGGESTION IS THAT EVEN A THING, oops slightly ooc, romantic hulk, self deprevation, self doubt, somewhat pervy tony, the wonderful world of fanfiction, these suggestions, update as of may 2016 don't read this it sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 16:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4486233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIncognitoFox/pseuds/TheIncognitoFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From a prompt on avengerkink:</p><p>One day, Bruce realized he's in love with Tony. But he decides to hide his feelings because Bruce thinks he's a Monster, he doesn't deserve Tony (brilliant, beautiful, precious Tony!) and he should be satisfied with what he has now.<br/>However, on the other hand, the Hulk is like ”Metal Man Good. Hulk Protect Tony. TONY MINE!!”</p><p>+10 If Hulk tried to win Tony's affection by rather common way.(praise him or give him a flower or something?)<br/>+100 If team encouraged Bruce.</p><p>Happy end please! (sorry if my grammar was wrong. English isn't my first language.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monsters and Men

**Author's Note:**

> First: No, the title is not a reference to the band 'Of Monsters and Men.'  
> Second: Should I change the name to 'Inferiority Complex'? Or maybe 'Inferiority and Superiority'? Or something along those lines? Please comment if you think I should.  
> Third: This is my first time posting on AO3 so forgive me please.  
> Fourth: I literally only proofread 1 or 2 paragraphs of this thing haha oops, but uh don't let that stop you from reading this  
> Fifth: You know, I had important things to say, but I forgot them. Eh.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy! And please leave a comment if you have time <3
> 
> ((P.S.: TAB IS OVERRAAATTTEEEEDDD))  
> ((P.S.S.: No but really tell me if the formatting is confusing and I'll fix it))
> 
> ((Update as of May 2016: This is terrible and it sucks don't read it pls.))

Bruce Banner wasn’t a normal man, to say the very least. He didn’t exactly enjoy social conventions, and he preferred to work alone. Not to mention that he occasionally defied the law of mass conservation. And yet, this was definitely very, very odd for him.

It had started around the time Tony invited him to live at the Avengers tower. He had been cautious at first, afraid it was a trap set by SHIELD or the government, but after seeing Tony’s attitude towards the two he realized just how very slim the chances of that being true were. That slim chance was definitely worth being able to live in a luxurious place without constantly having to hide from anybody and everybody.

That didn’t change the fact that Tony could be doing it for his own gain- but no, no, Tony would never do that. He might not be the most respectful man, but he wasn’t completely immoral.

His cheeks warmed slightly at the thought of Tony. That. That was the odd behaviour that had him lost so deeply in his own thoughts.

A couple weeks ago, or two days after he moved in, he had gone to the lounge for anything with caffeine after pulling his second all-nighter in a row. Despite living in a room with security equivalent to the Pentagon’s (and possibly even better), he hadn’t been able to sleep in such unfamiliar territory.

Tony had been awake, and was making his own coffee, for reasons unknown to Bruce. He just assumed that maybe he liked walking around and doing his own thing occasionally, instead of having something else do it for him(in reality, JARVIS had made him go to the lounge to get out of his lab which he had been cooped up in for the majority of the two days Bruce had been there). He had offered to make Bruce some coffee, and not wanting to be rude, Bruce accepted.

A couple minutes later, when Tony had finished, he handed the steaming mug to Bruce. As Bruce took it, their fingers momentarily brushed. Immediately his pulse had picked up, and he felt warm… warm, and… and blurry? Tingly? He couldn’t describe it. He was worried Tony had done something to him, drugged him maybe, but the thought was quickly discarded as he saw the genuinely worried look on his face.

His pulse had sped up even faster and he hurriedly rushed out of the room, spilling a bit of painfully hot coffee on himself as he threw out some half-mumbled excuse.

 

The next time he had seen Tony after that was right after a mission. There was fortunately no need for the Other Guy, so he had remained at the tower. He had been told to simply watch over the other team members through live video feed, warn the others if there was any threat they didn’t know about, etcetera. He was supposed to keep an eye on all of them evenly, but he couldn’t help but pay attention to Tony more closely.

He had told himself it was just because he was the only normal human on the team, so therefore he was more prone to injury than the others. It definitely wasn’t because he could imagine Tony inside the suit, swiftly turning and firing off a repulsor beam before dodging a thrown explosive, his normally clean and proper black hair now messily yet endearingly disheveled by the fight…

Nope. That definitely wasn’t why. And that definitely wasn’t why he couldn’t help but feel flustered every time he had looked at Tony’s screen, either.

And more recently it had just been getting more common and common. When they were in the lab together, he had more trouble than usual communicating his thoughts. He was often distracted from his work by Tony. Not the he had been doing anything, he was just… there. And that alone was distracting enough.

 

He sighed and looked at the bustling city of New York through the window. He was resting on one of the plush gray couches that Tony had set up for them in the lounge, led there because he needed to get his mind off of Tony for a few minutes. It didn’t exactly work. He gave up and decided not to fight it, deciding that maybe thinking it through would help. In the back of his mind, he knew he was just telling himself that because no matter what, Tony would pop into his train of thought somehow.

Bruce wasn’t called a genius for nothing. He knew what was going on, he just refused to acknowledge it. How could he? He was certain there was another explanation. There always was. There had to be. There was, right?

Of course. Of course there was. There was no way that…

He really should start making his way back to the lab. Tony might get worried, and then he might come up and ask what Bruce was thinking about… and that was really not the most optimal scenario. He wasn’t exactly a great liar.

 

Nope. Nope, it didn’t work. He still couldn’t focus on anything but Tony. He admittedly didn’t even realize that he was staring at Tony until he spun around in his chair in order to face Bruce. 

“Yo, Bruce, you all right there?” Tony asked.

Bruce blinked, rather abruptly being jerked back to reality.

“Brucey? Are you with me, bud?” Bruce resisted the urge to flinch and/or blush immensely from Tony’s affectionate, albeit joking(and intentionally provoking), use of Bruce’s name. He was positive Tony didn’t actually realize how much it bothered him. Did it bother him? Yeah, it bothered him. But didn’t it almost content him? No, of course not. That was just stupid stupid. It wasn’t like they were dating or anything. Or that he wanted to. Not that he would turn him down or anything but it’s not as if he would actively seek him out or pursue him or would he maybe he would but no Tony was just his friend nothing more but he really wouldn’t mind if he was more than that-

He was cut off by a loud clap directly in front of his face.

“Jeez, don’t tell me you fell asleep with your eyes open or some stupid shit like that. Or that you slipped into a sudden coma, that might be worse.” Tony concluded his sentence by flicking Bruce’s forehead, who in turn snorted lightly in a disgruntled and slightly amused way.

“Of course I didn’t, Tony. I’m just a little tired, and I’m thinking about some things.” Bruce straightened out, worried that Tony might push him on what he was thinking about. Tony instead let out a short bark of laughter.

“A little tired? And here I thought 11 cups of coffee would help keep you awake.” Bruce just shrugged in response, before Tony continued. “And why were you staring at me?” His smile grew into something more mischievous. “You just couldn’t keep your eyes off of me, huh?” he teased. Bruce looked at the ground, worried Tony would notice his slight blush, before mentally straightening up.

“Please, Tony, I think you know better than that. Don’t be stupid.”

Tony just chuckled, and after poking at Bruce a bit more, returned to working.

 

Just like he couldn’t focus, Bruce couldn’t fall asleep. He had gone several days without another ‘incident’ in the lab- in other words, when he spaced out while staring at Tony. He still hadn’t gotten much done.

As he stared at the ceiling, he couldn’t shake the ideal that he was a horrible, greedy person.

How could he? How could he be so horribly self-centered? It just wasn’t right. It was so horrible, so selfish, that he would even dare to have any sort of attraction towards the team, even more so Tony Stark… Tony Stark, the ‘genius billionaire playboy philanthropist’, and so much more. Bruce, on the other hand, was nothing more than a low-life scientist who’s nothing but a danger to those around him. He might be able to heal their injuries, but there’s no surviving the Other Guy.

How could he?

It was gross, just how selfish he was. There’s another thing Tony wasn’t; selfish. No, Tony was quite the opposite. Selfless. Yes, Tony Stark was definitely completely selfless. He had hard evidence.

Tony had pretended, for Bruce’s sake, that he didn’t mind the Other Guy. That he didn’t mind the fact that being around him will eventually lead to death. That he didn’t mind that Bruce had literally no redeeming features besides the fact that he was smart. He proved himself even more selfless, he pushed the boat even further and pretended like he enjoyed Bruce’s company, pretended that Bruce was even near worth as much as himself, even went as far as to pretend that having the Other Guy was somehow a good thing.

And now, Bruce was doing nothing less than asking Tony to somehow provide the wind for the sails, as well. He was taking Tony’s kindness for granted, and asking him to put his life at risk on a constant basis just to make Bruce happy.

This is why Bruce couldn’t ever let anybody know. Then, he’d be asking Tony to just pull his ship alone. Tony would realize just how worthless and selfish Bruce really was, and he’d leave him to drown for other people who actually deserve him.

Why couldn’t he just take what he had? For the first time in his life, people didn’t try to cage him or kill him or scream in fear and run from him when they found out about the Other Guy. For the first time, he could have an actual conversation with other people. For the first time, people he could trust had his back on the battlefield, even if they couldn’t trust him.

How could he just take it all for granted and ask for even more?

How could he be so greedy?

Bruce fought back the tears as he realized just how pathetic he was. He curled up, clenching his fists so hard his hands started to bleed, and he let out a small choking sound.

Why couldn’t he just have left it at friendship? No, he had to go and ask for more. It doesn’t matter that he nobody else knows. It doesn’t matter that everything’s the same as it was before he developed this… desire. A need for somebody else. A need for Tony Stark. Because eventually, they would find out, and everybody would see just how horrible he was.

Tony Stark, the most intelligent, handsomest, wittiest, funniest, most selfless, most perfect man in the ward. Tony Stark, the man who had extended his hand to an uncivil animal like him, and treated him as if he were equal.

How could a monster fall in love with the most perfect man in the world?

So be it. He wouldn’t let his selfishness harm Tony. He wouldn’t let Tony have even the slightest idea that Bruce had hopelessly fallen for him. If he gave it enough time, it would go away. After all, love is only instinctual. Eventually his mind will realize that his chances with Tony are non-existent, and stop telling him that he needs Tony Stark, that he needs to be with Tony Stark.

He closed his eyes, and for the first time since moving to the Avengers Tower, slept the whole night.

 

\---

 

He was pretty sure he was doing a good job at hiding his ‘little crush’ on Tony for the past couple weeks. He was still wary that the other members of the team might’ve found out, or worse, Tony himself. Sure, they had brushed hands a couple of times, and he’d gone considerably red. He’d found it a little hard to talk a couple times. He’d caught himself staring. All of these times, he’d had an excuse. He was sick with a fever. He was tired. He was trying to decide if that new element that Tony had found would cause a nuclear biochemical reaction when bonded directly with phosphorus and ruthenium, or if it would combust into a plasma-like highly-flammable gas that- Tony usually stopped listening by then because he knew Bruce would go on and on about possible theories, especially about things that had very little research done on them.

And still his feelings hadn’t gone away. No matter how much he denied or ignored his feelings, they wouldn’t go away. He had known that they wouldn’t go away this fast, known that they might not ever go away, but it didn’t stop him from worrying. At least he had been getting more work done.

And… no, he was not staring at Tony. That’s good. Whenever he spaces off like that, he can’t really be sure. He noticed Tony take a deep breath and seemingly square his jaw before turning his chair to face him. Momentary panic filled Bruce’s chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

Oh God. He knows. Oh God he knows he knows he knows he knows.

Following this almost immediately,

No, no he doesn’t. He’s probably just asking about the molecular structure of the Chautari Ship armor, since we’re working on reproducing it at the moment. So calm down, Bruce. No need to panic and give yourself away. Nope, no, no, no panic. It’s fine. You’re fine.

The thoughts were in and out of his mind in only a second as seemingly every cell in his body focused on Tony’s opening mouth.

“Bruce, are-”

Blaring alarms cut him off, as well as made him jump, consequently pushing away his office chair, leading to him falling not-so-gracefully to the ground, directly on his butt. He raised a hand to his head and rubbed his temple.

“You have got to be shitting me.” He murmured in an irritated and unamused tone, pushing himself up before Bruce could offer to help. “Hey, JARVIS, what the hell was that for?”

“My apologies, sir. It would appear Mr. Rogers is calling an emergency meeting. I would strongly recommend not being late to this one.” The pleasant British voice sounded over the speakers. Bruce couldn’t help but be vaguely surprised every time he heard sarcasm from the program. He just wasn’t use to technology being that… human.

“How about a little heads up next time, huh, buddy? Next time I’d really prefer to avoid falling on my ass. Not exactly the most pleasant experience.” Tony had a slightly irritated sneer on his face, obviously not actually all that mad.

“Once again, sir, my apologies. I just thought that perhaps you needed a little motivation. And, Mr. Banner, my deepest apologies if I startled you either.” The AI’s voice sounded more sincere when directed towards Bruce. Tony just snorted in response, then turned to him.

“Hey, Bruce, dear, you should probably get leaving. Maybe don’t suit up quite yet.” He snapped and pointed in a flirty yet obviously joking gesture towards Bruce, making a ‘kah-chk’ sound with his mouth. Banner nodded and waved slightly before leaving the room, making his way to the so-called ‘board room’ where they all met up. Normally, he would’ve made a remark about ‘not planning to suit up at all’, but he decided to not risk speaking.

He arrived at the meeting room, only to have Steve stop mid-sentence and turn to Bruce with a serious look on his face.

“I hope you don’t mind letting the other guy have a part in this, Mr. Banner.”

Well, so much for not planning on suiting up.

\---

He stood at the edge of the quinjet, watching as horrifyingly large creatures that closely resembled worms demolish a small suburb on the edge of Colorado. There were maybe four or five of them, which he supposed was better than hundreds of small ones. A large, cold hand on his shoulder jerked his attention away from the worms.

“Hope you’re ready for this, Banner. Because I totally am. You know just how much me and the Other Guy get along.” He guessed that Tony was smiling cockily under his mask, but he couldn’t quite tell. He was about to reply with a most likely incoherently mumbled comeback, but Tony launched himself out of the opening and dove towards the ground, followed closely by Thor. He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and then jumped.

\---

TONY’S POV

So far, in Tony’s opinion, nothing bad had really happened. All the citizens had been evacuated, only a few homes had been destroyed, which would be cheap enough to repair, and none of them had actually been hurt. Sure, there were giant worms rampaging around, probably from some experiment gone wrong, but they were pretty easy to kill. He was starting to think that they probably didn’t need to be called out for this.

That wasn’t to say that everything was going as it… normally would. Fighting giant worms was already pretty weird, but it just kept getting weirder. When the first of many worms came flying at Tony, suddenly the Hulk had been there. Bruce’s alter ego had smashed it, roaring “BAD WORM! WORM NO TOUCH METAL MAN. METAL MAN GOOD.” Even now, the Hulk hadn’t actually left Tony’s side, even though the latter was having no problem with the slimy creatures.

As Tony blasted one about 10 meters away, he turned to the hulk, a quizzical expression not visible through his mask, but still pretty obvious in his tone of voice.

“Hey, Hulk, buddy, you feeling alright? You’re not normally this… protective. Affectionate, even.” It was a rhetorical question, but he was Tony Stark. He couldn’t be put into an odd situation without doing something like that. It’s just part of who he was. To his surprise, though, the Hulk actually seemed to acknowledge him.

“Hulk good. Tony mine. MUST PROTECT TONY! METAL MAN MINE!” the large green monster roared as he once again pulverized a worm that had decided to attack at that time. Tony almost felt bad for them. This was definitely not normal behavior for the Hulk.

Just a few minutes later and the fight was over. There were worm guts splattered all over the ground, which was pretty gross, but besides that and a few dozen destroyed buildings there was no real damage done. Hulk, on the other hand, had stayed by his side the whole time. Now, he had stomped off to who knows where, not that Tony really minded.

“Alright, team! Gather!” Mr. Stars n’ Stripes yelled from somewhere off to Tony’s left. Tony sighed, casually pacing over to them and lifting up his mask, but made sure to stand a distance back just for a show of unnecessary defiance.

“What’s it this time, Cap? Do we have to go fight giant butterflies in the next closest rural town?” Once again, a show of unnecessary defiance. Nobody really expected him to actually follow orders, anyways. Steve decided to ignore his sarcasm.

“Romanoff, Barton, I need you two to go scout the area and see if there are any civilians that we may have missed. Thor, you and I will go calm down the townspeople and let them know that the creatures are dead, and any damage will be dealt with. Stark, you-” He was cut off by Tony.

“I’ll go find the green guy, thanks!” He pulled his mask down again, beginning to launch into the air.

“No, you need to check to see if we missed any of those creatures, Stark! We can find Bruce later, he’ll be fine!” Steve called after him, shielding his eyes from the dust the engines on Tony’s feet were creating. Tony looked at his forearm, mimicking the action of looking at a watch.

“I don’t know, Capsicle, I have a pretty tight schedule! I’ll try to fit it in!” he yelled out, and with that, turned off his intercom and shot away from the rest of his team, leaving a disappointed Steve Rogers shaking his head.

At his height in the air, he could see the whole town. That wasn’t really saying much, seeing as the town was a pretty tiny one. He was surprised to see the Hulk on the ground, looking around. Tony descended near him, making sure not to startle him.

“Hey, big guy. What’re you doing out here?” He asked somewhat cautiously. The Hulk whipped around, staring him down. Tony didn’t fail to notice that he had his fist clenched around something. The Hulk looked down at the ground, before glancing back up at holding out his hand to him.

“Hulk give Tony present. Tony take it. Tony be happy.” He then opened his fist, revealing a smashed flower. When the genius hesitated to take it, Hulk nudged it closer. Tony raised one eyebrow in a questioning manner.

“... Alrighty then.” he said, taking the flower out of Hulk’s open palm. “Thanks, I guess?” As soon as he said it, the Hulk turned around and charged away.

And it wasn’t just the Hulk that had been acting weird lately. Bruce had, too. Getting lost in thought, lingering gazes at Tony, awkward stuttering and getting flustered, slight avoidance of conversation...

The gears clicked in Tony’s head.

This was going to be interesting.

\---

Bruce didn’t like the way Tony kept on glancing over at him from the corner of his eye. Had the genius finally noticed? No, no, there was no way. After all, he did a good job of hiding it, didn’t he? He shook off the feelings of underlying dread and returned to his work there in the lab. Just a few minutes later, though, Tony swiveled around in his chair to face Bruce.

“Yes, Tony? Is there something you need?” he asked as he turned to meet Tony’s stare. Tony cleared his throat somewhat hesitantly.

“So, uh, the Hulk is more or less a representation of your inner feelings, right?” the billionaire asked.

The feeling of dread grew stronger, and Bruce momentarily panicked. What had happened? What did the Other Guy do?

“N-no, not really, not really at all I’m not sure why you’re thinking that it’s just a monster it doesn’t represent me at a-” Banner stuttered out in a rush, not entirely thinking through what he said, only to be cut off.

“He gave me this.” Tony picked up a flower on his desk that had escaped Bruce’s notice and set it gently in his hand. Bruce’s mind went blank for a split second.

“I mean- I-I’m sure there’s a simple reas- that doesn’t necessarily imply- I mean, I just-” The words that fell out of the flustered and somewhat horrified scientist’s mouth were almost completely unfiltered. At this point he was just stuttering, trying to come up with any excuse possible to delay the embarrassment of admitting his admiration for Tony. Once again, said man cut him off.

“Not cool, man. Did you really have to-” This time, it was Bruce who cut off Tony by slamming into the table as he threw himself out of the chair and bolted towards the door, unable to face whatever Tony was going to say next, especially with the rattling feeling of panic shaking his body. As soon as he was far away enough from the labs, he slowed down incase any other Avenger came by, though still walked moderately fast toward his room.

When he reached it, he barely resisted the temptation to slam the door, instead shutting it almost softly and slumping against the bed. He curled up into a ball, his back against the side of the bed facing away from the door, which would hide him from the view of anyone who may try to open the door. Feeling somewhat sheltered, he finally allowed himself to slow down and think.

How. Why. How could this happen? Why did it happen? Here, he thought he had everything under control. Tony hadn’t noticed, nobody had noticed, everything was great. But of course. The Other Guy ruins everything. The Other Guy took away his old life, and when he finally thought maybe he’d be able to live again, the Other Guy came and crushed it, tore it to pieces, took away any and all chances he had.

And of course, how could he even think for a minute that Tony wouldn’t be mad? He remembered the way Tony seemed so irritated, staring down at him. “Did you really have to-” were the last things Bruce heard, but he didn’t need to hear it to know what the end would be. “Did you really have to be so gross?”, or “Did you really have to think you had a chance with me?”. It was true.

A small, quiet part of him had hoped that maybe, by some infinitely improbable chance, Tony liked him, too. He was disgusted with himself. He should know, by now, that hope will do nothing but hurt you. In fact, he’d be surprised if Tony didn’t order SHIELD to lock him up. He was starting to think he’d rather be in a containment tank then here.

A knock on the door.

His heart sunk, hoping he’d just imagined it, or it was a knock on somebody else’s. He waited a few seconds, not hearing anything else, before he let out a breath of relief he didn’t know he’d been holding.

Another knock.

Damn it. Damn it all to hell.

“Bruce, don’t make me come in there. I don’t want to find you naked and passed out or something.” Tony’s voice was surprisingly soft sounding, but he didn’t take note of that. 

What he did take note of was that Tony was at his door. Damn it, Tony was at his door, probably come to make him leave the building, or tell him to pack his things. But why, why did he have to follow him? He should know Bruce would leave by himself. He always does. Maybe he should just make it easier for the both of them by jumping out the window- but no, that would just bring out the Other Guy. All he could do was bury his head in his hands and fight off the tears, an aftershock of the panic and fear and confusion and regret and everything.

Tony knocked again. “Bruce, please, just open up.” He knew Tony could come in, even if he had remembered to lock it he could just get JARVIS to open it up, but he couldn’t make himself stand up. He heard the door click open softly as Tony walked in.

“Bruce.” Tony said simply. Bruce knew he couldn’t let Tony see him like this, so he wiped his eyes a final time and stood up, turning to face Tony, an almost resilient look in his eyes.

“Why? Why would you follow me?” he asked quietly. “Did you come here just to rub it in?” He was holding his arms protectively, but not defensively, and his head was lowered. Tony let out a half-hearted snort.

“Actually-” Tony started, walking towards Bruce.

“Why? What are you-” Bruce interrupted, taking a couple steps back from the bed and away from Tony unconsciously. He, too, was interrupted.

“IF you had let me finish,” Tony crossed the remaining distance and leaned towards Bruce, staring him in the eyes, “then I would have said did you really have to wait for the Green Guy to tell me, and are you free tomorrow night?”

Bruce blinked. His jaw dropped. Was this actually happening? Did Tony just chase him down and ask him for a… and ask him out on a date? He opened and closed his mouth several times as he attempted to say something.

Tony chuckled and leaned back, smiling genuinely. “I’ll take that as a yes. Tomorrow night, be at the front door of the third floor at nine. Don’t be late, that’s my job.” He winked and turned around, striding out of the room.

Bruce stared after him.

\--------------------**********--------------------

Bruce smiled as he looked over the grassy hill, watching his teammate’s children play under the sunlight. A soft breeze drifted through, carrying the smell of the pie Mrs. Barton was cooking across the field. They’d gone on a quick break to visit Clint’s family in their safehome. His arm was around Tony’s waist, and Tony’s around his.

He turned to look at said man- also known as his boyfriend- while he too was watching the kids laugh and smile and run around. Tony’s hair was ruffled as another light breeze blew through, quietly swaying the trees and the grass. He noticed Bruce staring at him, and turned to him, a grin on his lips.

“Enjoying the view?” Tony asked his partner jokingly. They’d been together for just over a year, now. As a matter of fact, their anniversary had only been two weeks ago.

“Of course, Tony.” Bruce said amusedly, deciding to humor his boyfriend.

“Woah, woah, eyes up here. Mind your manners, we’re around children!” Tony joked again. Bruce elbowed him playfully.

“Because you’re so great at being a gentlemen.” he returned. Tony’s grin became slightly cocky.

“Why of course!” Tony wiggled his eyebrows, slipping his hand lower behind Bruce’s back and squeezing quickly. Bruce yelped out of surprise, shoving Tony back lightly.

“Tony! Seriously, we are around kids!” Tony just laughed as Bruce’s face started to resemble a tomato. Tony leaned forward and quickly pecked Bruce on the lips, causing for even more blushing to ensue.

“Oh come on, they didn’t notice. I was just joking around. We’re on vacation, let go a little!” he smiled, his eyes glimmering under the sun. Bruce couldn’t help but laugh under his breath as Tony returned to his side. His attention returned to the children running up the hill.

“Uncle Bruce! Uncle Tony!” the younger girl, Lila, called out. Bruce crouched down and opened his arms, catching the girl as she jumped into them.

“Lila! Cooper! How are you?” he asked as he laughed. He was then hug-tackled by Cooper, who he hugged too.

“I’m great! We’re playing tag!” She ran to Tony, pulling on his arm. “Pick me up, Uncle!”

“Whatever you say, dear.” he smiled gently and picked her up, spinning her around. Cooper stood back up and poked Bruce’s shoulder before jumping back.

“You’re it, Uncle Bruce! Run, Lila, run, Uncle Tony!” he ran down the hill as Lila squealed, getting down from Tony’s arm and running away from Bruce. Tony laughed loudly.

“Yeah, Uncle Bruce, bet you can’t catch me!” he winked and ran away, following the children. Bruce looked on in amusement.

If anyone told him a year ago that any of this would happen, he would’ve called them delusional. And now, he was happier than he’s ever been, with a loving boyfriend- and possibly soon-to-be fiancé.

Sure, he did have regrets. Well, specifically one regret. And it was concerning Tony. And it was concerning their relationship. His only regret was that he didn’t tell Tony sooner, and that Tony had to find out like that. Sure, Tony finding out led to the best thing in his life. He’s so grateful that Tony did what he did- in fact, he’d dare say he’s grateful to the Other Guy for starting the whole thing off. The beginning of their relationship was a particularly rocky start. Tony had basically needed to guide Bruce through the whole thing, and it took him a damn long time to realize that Tony genuinely cared for him. Eventually, though, the sailing smoothed out, and they were happy with the loves of their lives.

He looked over the hill, at his beautiful, perfect boyfriend, who was sticking his tongue out and teasing him. He shook his head, smiling happily to himself, before looking up.

“Hey, no fair! I’m gonna get you!” he yelled, running down the hill towards Tony and the kids. The two children squealed and ran away, Tony following quickly after.

“No you’re not!” he turned around to yell, consequently tripping and stumbling just long enough for Bruce to catch up to him. Bruce couldn’t quite slow down in time, either, and ended up basically falling onto Tony, knocking them both to the ground. They both burst into laughter, holding each other’s hands. Bruce stared down into his eyes after they calmed down, and smiled, leaning down to peck his lips before pulling back and continuing his stare.

“No tagbacks.” he whispered, smiling uncontrollably, then rolled off of Tony and ran.

It turns out, a perfect man can turn a monster back into something loveable.


End file.
